Press and delivery system for a press

ABSTRACT

An installation head adapted to receive a fastener for securing the fastener to a sheet metal member on actuation of the head by a press. The head includes a main block having a bore, a cylindrical press member disposed within and supported by the bore, the press member having an arrangement for receiving and holding the fastener, wherein the cylindrical press member is rotatable in the bore between a first position, in which the fastener is received by the arrangement for receiving and holding the fastener and held in position relative to the press member, and a second position for actuation of the press.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a delivery system device for feeding parts,particularly fasteners such as nuts and studs to progression or transferpresses, and to a press or installation head for pressing the fastenerinto another component such as a sheet metal member.

BACKGROUND

When mounting a flanged nut or a flanged head stud, such as that sold bythe applicants under the trade mark FLANGEFORM and generally describedin GB-A-1 474 766, to a formed sheet metal part it is desirable to fixthe stud at the same time as performing other pressing operations.

A known problem in the handling of studs in such presses is to ensurecorrect placement and orientation of the stud throughout its path from asupply container (in which the studs are simply randomly oriented) toits final position fixed to the desired component, e.g. a metal sheet,in the desired position by the press. Studs have a tendency to adopt thewrong position, and if this happens, serious consequences can arise,ranging from an increase in the number of studs inadequately fixed tojamming of the press with consequential loss of production time or evendamage to press tools or other components of the press.

By providing better stud positioning and control throughout the pathfrom the supply container to fixture by the press, the incidence ofinadequate fixing or other failures can be substantially reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first aspect of the present invention provides a press adapted toreceive a fastener for securing the fastener to a sheet metal member onactuation of the press, the press comprising a press member which hasmeans for receiving and holding the fastener, wherein the press memberis movable between a first position for receiving the fastener and asecond position for actuation of the press.

It will be appreciated that the press member may be incorporated in apart of the press head which is moved during the pressing operation.

In a particularly preferred form, the press member receiving and holdingmeans is adapted to receive and hold a shank of a stud.

A second aspect of the invention provides a stud loading mechanismcomprising a breech; a plurality of members at an exit end of the breechand biased towards each other, the members forming a tapered outlet atthe exit end of the breech; and reciprocating means in the breechadapted to effect a forward stroke to push a stud shank first along thebreech towards the tapered outlet and then to push it further until thehead of the stud has passed through the tapered outlet while forcing themembers apart, and then to execute a retraction stroke.

The tapered aperture may be formed by elongate pivoted members, andserves to align the stud and help control the ejection of the stud fromthe breech.

Preferably the loading mechanism is used in combination with the press.

Other preferred features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying claims.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate part of a delivery system according to theinvention in part vertical section with a press head and a stud each intwo different positions;

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a part of the system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 inpart horizontal section showing a pair of pivoted members of the studfeed mechanism in two different positions;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are partial sections along the section lines A—A and B—Bin FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 shows schematically a control arrangement for the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show parts of a press head for a press and comprising amain block 50, vertically reciprocable by means not shown, andincorporating a delivery device indicated generally as 10. The deliverydevice 10 is connected to one end of a delivery tube 12 along whichstuds 14, having a shank 16 and a head 18, are fed shank-first. They arefed into the upper end of tube 12 (not shown) by a conventionalvibratory bowl feed means (not shown). Below the outlet of delivery tube12 is a breech 20 set in a tool body 22 into which the studs 14 fall.

FIG. 3 shows that the breech 20 from above, and shows, in particular, apair of pivoted members 24,26 pivoted at their ends adjacent the feedtube 12 by vertical axis pivots 28,30, and biased towards each other bymeans not shown. The pivoted members 24,26 are shaped so that theycurved upwards from their contiguous edges to form a half barrel inwhich a stud can lie (as shown in FIG. 7).

The ends of the pivoted members 24,26 remote from the pivots 28,30 areshaped to form a conical aperture 34. At the other end of the breech 20adjacent the feed tube 12 there is an aperture 36 on the breech centreline; a thrust member 38 is located inside the breech 20 and isreciprocable within the breech by a double-acting piston cylinder 40.The piston is pneumatically operable, as indicated by thepressure/exhaust ports 42, 44, connected to a pressure source not shown,and reciprocation of the piston is controllable by a microswitch 46.

FIG. 1 shows a stud 14 just before it falls into the breech 20. FIG. 2shows the stud after falling; it lies with its head adjacent the thrustmember 38 and its central axis sloping downwards because the tip 17 ofthe stud shank 16 lies on the floor of the half barrel.

As the piston 40 operates to move the thrust member 38 along the breech20, the stud 14 is pushed so that its tip 17 rides up the taperingaperture 34 until the stud central axis is horizontal, and the studshank 16 is then pressed through the exit aperture 35.

So far the pivoted members 24,26 have not moved. As the thrust member 38moves the stud 14 further along the breech, so that the head 18 of thestud reaches the tapered aperture 34, the pivoted members 24,26 pivot toprovide a wider aperture to allow the head to pass. This can be seen inFIG. 4. After the stud head has left the breech 20, the pivoted membersare returned to their position shown in FIG. 3 by the spring means (notshown). The piston cylinder 40 retracts the thrust member 38 until it isclear of the end of the delivery tube 12, and another stud is deliveredinto the breech 20 i.e. as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the left had sides of FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings,these show a press head 50 into which the studs are inserted forsubsequent placement and fixing during a press operation. To the left ofbreech exit aperture 35 there is a main block 50 having substantialwalls and central circular aperture 52. Within the aperture 52 is ashort cylinder 54 (cylindrical press member), rotatable about ahorizontal axis at right angles to the axis of piston/cylinder 40 andset within the main block 50. A segmental slot in cylinder 54 allowsconnection of the cylinder via a connector 59 and pivot 57 to one end ofa piston 58 forming part of a pneumatic piston cylinder device 60 havingpressure/exhaust ports 64, 64.

Within the cylinder 54 is an arrangement for receiving and holding afastener. In the illustrated embodiment, the arrangement for receivingand holding includes a radial bore into which is fixed a bush 56 havinga central bore forming an entry chamber into which the shank of the studcan pass, as can be seen in FIG. 1. The head 18 of the stud protrudesfrom the central bore and lies against shoulders 58 of the bush 56.

The cylinder 54 is rotatable in aperture 52, by advancing or retractingpiston 58 through 90° between a position in which the bore of bush 56 ishorizontal, opening sideways of the press (FIG. 1, defined by abutmentbetween part of cylinder 54 and part of block 50), and one in which itis vertical, opening in the pressing direction (FIG. 1, defined by theabutment of bush 56 against the lower part of block 50). Whenhorizontal, FIG. 2, the bore of the plug 56 is aligned with the axis oftapering apertures 34,35 at the end of the breech 20, so a stud 14 canbe pushed through the aperture 34 and into the bore 56. Once this hasoccurred, the piston 58 may be retracted to rotate the cylinder 54 to aposition in which the bore of the bush 56 is vertical, and the head 18of the stud protrudes below the bush 56, as shown in FIG. 1. With thecylinder 54 in this position, the entire assembly shown in FIGS. 1 to 5is moved downwards (arrow P) to move stud 14 down to press the head 18partly through an aperture in a sheet of metal for a forming operation.A die on the underside of the sheet, enables the head of stud 14 to beattached to the metal sheet by known techniques, such as that describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,938,239 and 3,018,257. During this process, the studhead 18 is deformed into the die below the sheet under pressure appliedby the shoulders 58 of the bush 56.

The cylinder 54 is supported across substantially it's full width in theaperture 52 in the block 50 as the cylinder 54 is rotated and during thepressing operation, as can be seen from FIG. 6.

As noted above, the cylinder 54 must be reciprocated between the twopositions exactly 90° apart and this precision would be difficult toachieve by merely relying on the end positions of the piston withinpneumatic cylinder 60. Accurate positioning can be achieved by meansshown in FIG. 5. The cylinder 54 has at each end an area milled away toleave an arcuate portion 66 standing proud. The radially extending ends68, 70 of the arcuate portion 66 visible in FIG. 5 contact a wall 72protruding from the main block 50 which acts as a stop to limit themovement of precisely 90°. Adjacent the part of the wall 72 which actsas a stop for the end 70, there is a proximity sensor 74 for sensingwhen the arcuate portion 66 is firmly in contact with the wall 72. Ifthere is no such contact, then the cylinder 54 is not in a positionwhere the bush 56 and stud 14 are accurately vertical, and lowering theassembly to fix the stud 14 in the sheet can be inhibited.

FIG. 8 indicates that operation of the stud delivery system and a coldforming press (not shown) can be controlled by a PC 76 which suppliescontrol signals to appropriate electrically controlled valves connectedin the pneumatic lines leading to pressure/exhaust ports 42,44 of thecylinder 40 and pressure/exhaust port 62,64 of the cylinder 70, atappropriate times in the operating cycle. The PC 76 has input lines forreceiving signals from the proximity sensor 74 and microswitch 46, andan output line 78 to supply an inhibit signal to the main control of themechanism for operating the press if the rotary cylinder 54 is not inthe correct position for the stud to be inserted and fixed efficientlyand safely into the sheet.

In operation, starting from the position shown in FIG. 2, the pneumaticcylinder 40 is operated to push the stud 14 shank first into the bush 56until the stud head 18 clears the members 24,26 and abuts the shoulder58. The stud shank 18 is gripped in the bush 56, e.g. by a ball andspring mechanism. Piston 60 is then actuated to rotate member 54 toalign the stud 14 vertically, as in FIG. 1. The press head 50 is thenactuated to affix the stud to a metal sheet which is being worked on.While the press head is operating, a new stud is delivered with thebreech 20.

It will be appreciated that the apparatus can be operated with differentstud lengths, if the breech 20 and the bore of bush 56 are designed toreceive the maximum desired stud length. For different size studs, thebush 56 and pivot members 24,26 can be changed.

1. An installation head adapted to receive a fastener for securing thefastener to a sheet metal member on actuation of the head by a press,the head comprising a main block having a bore, a cylindrical pressmember disposed within and supported by the bore, the press memberhaving an arrangement for receiving and holding the fastener, whereinthe cylindrical press member is rotatable about an axis thereof in thebore between a first position, in which the fastener is received by thearrangement for receiving and holding the fastener and held in the firstposition relative to the press member, and a second position foractuation of the press, the rotation axis of the cylindrical pressmember being parallel to a longitudinal axis of the bore.
 2. A head asclaimed in claim 1, in which in the first position the arrangement forreceiving and holding the fastener faces sideways of the direction ofoperation of the press, and in the second position the arrangement forreceiving and holding the fastener faces in the direction of pressing.3. A head as claimed in claim 1, wherein stops are provided to limit themovement of the press member at the first and second positions.
 4. Ahead as claimed in claim 1 including a detection arrangement fordetecting the position of the press member.
 5. A head as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the main block is moved on actuation of the press.
 6. Ahead as claimed in claim 1, wherein the arrangement for receiving andholding the fastener comprises an entry chamber for receiving andholding a shank of a stud.
 7. A combination comprising: an installationhead as claimed in claim 1; and a stud loading mechanism for loading astud into the head, the stud loading mechanism comprising a breech; aplurality of members at an exit end of the breech and biased towardseach other the members forming a tapered outlet at the exit end of thebreech; and a reciprocating arrangement in the breech adapted to effecta forward stroke to push a stud shank first along the breech towards thetapered outlet and then to push it further until the head of the studhas passed through the tapered outlet while forcing the members apart,and then to execute a retraction stroke, the stud being received in thepress member.
 8. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein thebreech is defined at least in part by a plurality of elongated memberswhich are pivotally mounted at one end distal of the breech exit andbiased towards each other, the other ends of the elongate membersdefining the members forming the tapered outlet.
 9. The combination asclaimed in claim 8, wherein the pivoted members define an open channelfor receiving a stud, and the pivoted members define a generallycircular cross-section, outlet aperture at the exit end of the channel,to align the stud shank as the stud is pushed along the channel.
 10. Thecombination as claimed in claim 9, wherein two of the pivoted membersare provided.
 11. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein adelivery tube is provided for delivery a stud into the breech from aboveone end thereof.